At a painting workshop years ago, I asked my mentor, "How do I know if my painting is finished?" He looked at the painting and said, "It's not finished." I looked at it and said out loud, "It is finished". He said, "It's not finished."

He walked away, and I sat for awhile staring at the painting.

A little later, he came back and said to me, while waving his hands around my painting, "You have to tie the elements together. How does one part connect with the other? Bring some of what is in the center to the periphery and vice versa."

At the time, I really had no idea what he was talking about, so I stared at the painting some more and said out loud again, so that he could hear, "It is finished." It's possible that he then rolled his eyes and walked away further.

In retrospect, I think I was resisting the act of bravery it would take to do the next thing that I wasn't sure how to do. How do I tie the elements together? How do I add more of what I can't see? It would be on blind faith that I moved forward, simply doing what I thought I should do next.

After awhile, I picked up my paint brush and started doing what he told me. It felt unnatural, and I thought I was ruining my painting, however I kept going. I painted a thread from the circle of the mandala out into the periphery.

My mentor saw what I was doing and was ecstatic. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" he said. "That is exactly right. You have to stop thinking, and just do the next thing." He said,"If you think about putting a yellow circle above a black rock just do it! Don't think about it...just do it!"

A few weeks ago I thought about this wisdom and how it applies to painting the picture of our lives. We can think so much about our ideas that we don't act -- afraid to ruin our half-done painting. Afraid we will mess up or that it won't work out.

When I decided to start living out this sage advice recently it really helped open up the flood gates of creativity. By acting on our wholesome and creative ideas, we become a vessel through which God pours out energy. The left brain is suspended, and the result is more complete. We tie the elements together without worrying about the outcome. We trust.

Of course, when I followed through with what he had instructed I could see that in fact, my painting had not been finished and now it was. He agreed.

Stop thinking, and just do the next creative thing that will benefit you and the world. Yes! Yes! Yes!